Pacers vs Jazz: Solo Act

Indiana Pacers (1-6) vs Utah Jazz (3-4)

Injuries, injuries, and more injuries have been the story of the Pacers season so far and for good reason. But there is a subplot to that story: The emergence of Solomon Hill. So far in his second year he’s averaging 12 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists a game while shooting 47.6% from the field and 39.1% from beyond the arc. This isn’t just a matter of more minutes equal more stats for Solomon Hill. He’s going against starters in these minutes and doing more per 100 possessions than he did a year ago. Last year what few shots he did take relied on getting assists from his teammates, but this year he’s shown aggressive and is creating his own shot more often than not. It is a small sample size theater, but these are positive signs none the less and worth keeping an eye on.

Solo’s continued production is key if the Pacers want to win again before the team heals up. Indiana will be at home to take on the Utah Jazz and with games against Miami, Denver, and Chicago, this is the best shot to pick up a win this week for Indiana. Gordon Hayward returns to his home state as the enemy this time around and he’s averaging a line of 17.9 ppg, 6 rpg, and 5.1 apg so far this year. He’s got plenty of help in the front court with Derrick Favors (16.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Enes Kanter (11.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and the from back court of Alex Burks and Trey Burke.

Both teams play a similarly slow pace so Indiana’s lack of depth may not be as big as issue as both teams will grit and grind their way to points more often than not. The Jazz don’t have the best defense as they are ranked 24th in points allowed, but considering that the Pacers are 28th in points scored, I don’t see Indiana having a real advantage there.

As much fun as it is praising Solomon Hill, the Pacers need strong performances from Donald Sloan and Chris Copeland as well. You can’t count on them for defense, but they need to be effective on offense. They can’t be missing as many shots as they have been so far this season if Indiana wants to win. With Roy Hibbert recovering from his knee injury, everyone else needs to take some pressure off him as he won’t be 100%.

Who to watch on the Jazz: Gordon Hayward has averaged 10.5 points in four career road games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, scoring 21 points in the last meeting. Watching his matchup against Solomon Hill should be good theater.

Who to watch on the Pacers: Solomon Hill might be able to better than his season average as neither Hayward or the Jazz are particularly good of defense. He’s going to be looking to keep the momentum rolling after a strong performance against Washington and to prove that wasn’t an anomaly.

The Big Question

Which is worse: The Pacers’ offense or the Jazz’s defense? If either can play better than their season averages then that team will have the advantage. I think at home I’ll expect the Pacers defense to win that battle but I won’t be shocked either to see Indiana’s offensive woes continue, even against a team that plays defense this poorly.

Betting Line

Indiana is a -1.5 point favorite with the over/under at 188.5.  I think the Pacers defense will slow down the Jazz enough to get the win and to cover the spread. I’m hesitant, but I’ll take the over on points.

One Random Thing